Contemporary Integrated Sound Solutions. Part II. Page 12

Our first review of existing integrated audio solutions received a great feedback. So, we decided to continue our detailed investigation of the latest integrated sound solutions and their features. Today we will look at Analog Devices solution with Jack Sensing technology, eight-channel VIA Envy24PT and Realtek six-channel codec family.

SpectraLAB Tests

I carried out our tests in the SpectraLAB suite (version 4.32.17) adhering to the methodology explained in my previous reviews. This test will help us to compare the analog parts of the audio subsystems. It is the Analog Devices AD1985 codec in the ASUS P4P800 mainboard, and Realtek ALC650 and VIA VT1616 in Albatron’s PX865PE Pro and PX865PE Pro II, respectively.

Spectrograms for Analog Devices AD1985

44,100Hz/16bit, 1kHz tone signal

Determining IMD at 44,100Hz/16bit

48,000Hz/16bit, 1kHz tone signal

Determining IMD at 48,000Hz/16bit

The AD1985 codec did well throughout the tests, showing a kind of stability across all the modes. This is perfectly seen in the diagrams. Note its low intermodulation distortion coefficient and a good signal/noise ratio. Overall, such characteristics are quite adequate for an integrated audio subsystem.